I'm not sure I'd agree reading a book is isolating. At a minimum, you can (assuming a human author...) "get inside the author's brain." Some books are better at this than others, certainly.
But even without that, look at the popularity of book discussions, book clubs, and things like that. Multiple people, reading the same book, at the same pace, and discussing it. That's the opposite of isolating, and is impossible to achieve with "personalized feeds." There's no common point to discuss.
And, as yet another example, have you ever read a book that someone else has marked up and taken notes in? Passing a book around a few friends, each with a different color pen to make notes, is certainly not isolating.
> I'm not sure I'd agree reading a book is isolating. At a minimum, you can (assuming a human author...) "get inside the author's brain."
I think that's it.
You are not connecting with "people", but you are connecting deeply with the highly concentrated (and presumably original and high quality) thoughts of one person.
Quality beats quantity for most types of relationships. We don't need lots of close friends, although that's great. But we really benefit from even one, two or three very close friends.
Social media increasingly isolating, full of dreck, and often shallow. But the last one, shallow, is not the problem the other two are. It is also healthy to maintain wider looser social circles.
I think there’s something quite cosy or comforting about simply enjoying the company of a friend with a book as well. Don’t even have to read the same thing, it’s just another way of spending time together and is anything but lonely or isolating.
Maybe it’s just one of those things that becomes more pleasant as you grow older and enjoy a more laid back pace, but I appreciate having those friends you can just chill with without really having to ‘do’ something or needing to fill the space with conversation. You’ve become close enough (not necessarily romantically) that you can just enjoy the presence.
But even without that, look at the popularity of book discussions, book clubs, and things like that. Multiple people, reading the same book, at the same pace, and discussing it. That's the opposite of isolating, and is impossible to achieve with "personalized feeds." There's no common point to discuss.
And, as yet another example, have you ever read a book that someone else has marked up and taken notes in? Passing a book around a few friends, each with a different color pen to make notes, is certainly not isolating.